"The Art Of Drowning" in Top Ten Influential Punk Albums from 2000

In September's issue of Alternative Press magazine "The Art Of Drowning" was named one of the top 10 influential punk albums from 2000 to influence today's punk. The page has a very brief history of AFI and how their line up changes affected their sound, as well as a mini interview with Jade. This mostly talks about things going on with the band at the time the album was recorded. You can see the article in this thread on the DF.
Thanks to BrttnyD for the tip!

The issue of AP also had a full page ad for DW drums featuring Adam on the back page. It is also available in desktop format, in two sizes, 1600x1200 and 1280x1024.

Extension of Distortion interview from Fuse

Distortion interviewed AFI on Fuse TV back in October 2009. This is extra footage from that same location. They spoke of what Crash Love means over all and what it means to them.

Blaqk Audio Track Premieres on Sirius FM!

According to Blaqk Audio's Facebook Page, a new song titled "Bon Voyeurs" has been played on the Sirius Satellite Radio channel Sirius BPM. Since "Bon Voyeurs" is getting radio airplay it is 99% sure to be a single, it appears to be the second for Bright Black Heaven, after "Ill Lit Ships". Nothing is confirmed yet, this is speculation.

Did anyone hear it? Let us know what you think! Thanks to Kate for the tip!

UPDATE 7/28: The song was played at just after midnight. It's far more upbeat than Ill Lit Ships is. A stream of the song can be found on Youtube, but we will not be posting the link here.

According to station logs, the song has been in rotation since July 22.

DOWNLOAD: Medicate Instrumental (Bonus: Vocals)

Here is the second instrumental/vocal track in our 3-part series this week. Last Thursday we offered a Death of Seasons instrumental, and this week it is the Medicate instrumentals, recorded straight from Guitar Hero in pristine fashion by our good friend Tomas!

Medicate Instrumental (Right click, select "Save Target As" to download)

Medicate Vocals (Right click, select "Save Target As" to download)

In another few days we'll post The Missing Frame's gorgeous vocal track. You can hear a teaser for that here.

Sealed Sing The Sorrow 12"s for $24.99 on Adeline

Hi guys,

I've constantly seen people on the OMB/eBay trying to sell their opened Sing The Sorrow vinyl for crazy expensive prizes (up to $40), although they usually go for $30.

I wanted you guys know that they are still available on the retail online store, new, still sealed, in perfect condition for just $24.99. There are more than 500 still available. Remember they're limited to 10,000. The point of this post is to prevent more fans from being ripped off by other people.

FULL SHOW: Basement show in Green Bay 7/15/95

Here is yet another full show rip, as I promised, as part of my "ripping spree". This is a show Ruth (Jabnews) had always wanted to see, so I finally ripped it.

It is a show that AFI played in a basement on someone's house, on July 15th 1995, a few days before Geoff Kresge's birthday and less than 3 weeks from ATASF's release date. It was recorded no farther than 3 ft from the stage, on Geoff's side. You can clearly hear that no more than 10 people are in the audience!

AFI was supposed to play 10 songs (LIAMST was the closer) but a girl convinced them to play 1 more song... then another one :P

The show on DVD can be traded with me if you contact me at pablo@theartofdrowning.net, make sure you also check my full list. These videos were compressed for an easier/faster upload, but the real deal is on DVD.

Click on each link to play:

Play all
Playlist

Two of a Kind
Brownie Bottom Sundae
I Wanna Get a Mohawk (But Mom Won't Let Me Get One)
Don't Make Me Ill
Theory of Revolution
Yurf Rendenmein
Rizzo in the Box
Cruise Control
Highschool Football Hero
Love is A Many Splendored Thing
Nyquil
Open Your Eyes

Enjoy! Suggestions and comments are always welcome!

Davey on Cover of Black Velvet Magazine, Issue 65

A couple of months ago we reported that Davey had done an interview with Black Velvet Magazine. That 4-page interview has now appeared in the latest issue of the zine. The blurb reads:

"AFI’s Davey Havok tells us how he’d like to learn 10-15 more languages, how the disintegration of music culture saddens him, how it’s a difficult world for those that shine the brightest and how he’d like to cease the consumption of animal products entirely."

You can purchase the issue through Paypal here or one of these store locations.

DOWNLOAD: Death of Seasons Instrumental

Over the next week we will be posting several instrumental and vocals-only tracks, as we have done in the past. Today's instrumental is DIY - it wasn't recorded off a video game, but it is very well done nonetheless. Many thanks to Tomas for supplying this track as well as the other two!

Death Of Seasons (Right click and select "Save Target As")

July 22 - "Death of Seasons" Instrumental

July 27 - "Medicate" Instrumental

July 31 - "The Missing Frame" Vocals

94.1 Giving Away Tickets To Green Day+AFI Show

94.1's The Zone, a radio station in New York, is giving away tickets to the Green Day show on August 5th at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.

Listen to the Zone all day this Thursday starting at 6am with Rover, until 7pm with Tre. When you hear the cue to call, be caller 14 on the Zone Lines at 2-2-2-1-9-4-1 to win a pair of tickets to see Green Day’s “21st Century Breakdown Tour”, Thursday August 5th at Darien Lake, with Special Guests AFI, Thanks to Live Nation.

Good luck!

Crash Love Song Mini-Tournament

We've done two large song tournaments, one in Spring 2009 with all of AFI's songs, and then another one in Spring 2010 with 64 songs. Both were great successes in participation, so we've decided to apply it on a smaller scale to Crash Love!

We'll be using the 16 songs recorded and released from the sessions, but the rounds will be a bit different from years' past in order to speed things along. There will initially be 4 groups of 4 songs each, and from each of these 2 songs will advance to the quarterfinals. At that point there will be one-on-one matchups until we have a winner.

FULL SHOW: Brixton Academy, April 6th 2010

Hey guys,

Long time no rip. I decided to rip the best bootleg I have. It is from the Brixton Academy in London England, on April 6th 2010. I decided to rip it because it was recorded with a High Definition camera. The video, audio and camera work are amazing! The same person who recorded Astoria, Forum and Reading, all from 2003, recorded this one.

From now on, I will be uploading the full show rips I do to YouTube, because I'm sure most of you would rather stream then instead of downloading 100 mb per song. They end up uploaded on YouTube by other people without proper credit and you can rip them off YouTube anyway.

The show on DVD can be traded with me if you contact me at pablo@theartofdrowning.net, make sure you also check my full list. These videos were compressed for an easier/faster upload, but the real deal is on HD DVD.

Click on each link to open then on YouTube:

Playlist
Play All

Medicate
Girl's Not Grey
The Leaving Song Pt. II
I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here
Kill Caustic
End Transmission
File 13
Beautiful Thieves
Dancing Through Sunday
Too Shy To Scream
Love is a Many Splendored Thing
On The Arrow
Death of Seasons
The Interview
Miss Murder
The Days of the Phoenix
Love Like Winter
Silver and Cold

Enjoy!

Green Day Speaks About AFI In Billboard Interview

Green Day recently spoke about touring with AFI in an interview with Billboard.com. In the interview they said:

"We have always talked about playing gigs with AFI and it was just the matter of what was the right moment when we both have records out and touring at the same time."

To view the interview, go here.

As a side note, twitter user Skafia made some awesome iPhone 4 AFI wallpapers. Go here to check them out.

RUMOR: Private Blaqk Audio Gig at Roxy in January

As the Crash Love era winds down, and as the Bright Black Heaven album cycle gets underway, we are going to shift our focus as well. We will continue to bring you coverage of all things AFI, and now we will also be doing the same with Blaqk Audio. We have added a link at the top of the page to our Blaqk Audio News Channel, which will show posts only about Blaqk Audio.

We've found a tweet that we urge you to take with a pound of salt, but is interesting nonetheless. It reads: "@I_Ruin_Dreams My manager at work is good friends with the owner of the roxy in Hollywood and says that Blaqk Audio will be doing a private gig in January!" AFI performed at The Roxy for the Crash Love record release show, and it was a private gig as well, so this is entirely plausible. The tweet has been sent to management for confirmation, so we'll know soon enough.

In other Blaqk Audio news, the duo's MySpace page is primed for an update. Jade is reportedly delegating work to the design team.

Win A 3-Day Pass To Lollapalooza From Buzznet

Online site Buzznet is giving one lucky fan a 3-day pass to Lollapalooza, an annual music festival in Chicago. To enter the contest:

1. Become a fan of Buzznet on Facebook
2. Post a picture of yourself showing love to one artist playing on the Lollapalooza lineup on Buzznet's wall.
3. Tag the artist in the post.

New Zu Boutique Shirts

There are 3 new Zu Boutique shirts available at ZuBoutique.com. All three shirts are limited and numbered 0-99, the new shirts are called Pentaglam, Banana Split Lady, and Bolt of Blue. Head on over to Zu Boutique to find out more info about these shirts:

Geoff Kresge comments on each Answer That song!

Guys, here is the last installment of Geoff Kresge talking about every song on Answer That and Stay Fashionable. All the previous posts are reposted here in case you missed them.

Once again a big thank you to Geoff Kresge, former AFI bassist, for taking the time to do this for us <3

We hope you enjoyed reading this! :)

All content herein ©2010 Key Lime Pie Records. Reproduction of this article, in whole or part, is forbidden without the express written consent of Key Lime Pie Records.

Wingnut Records Version

"Two of a Kind"

The title was a reference to a guy we knew at the time who had recently started dating a girl who had started adopting his style of dress and mannerisms. She was basically the female version of him. It was just an observation of the situation, put into words as the title of the song. I don't know how much of Davey's lyrics reflect the concept behind the title, although there are certainly lines that could be interpreted in such a way.

"Half-Empty Bottle"

This was a song that I had written between the time that we had split up in late-August 1993 and our reformation in December 1993. It was originally going to be performed by the band I was playing with in the interim. That band recorded it, under the original title "Burn It Down", several years later along with several other songs I co-wrote - without giving me any kind of songwriting credit. The lyrics are just generic punk lyrics. The title "Half-Empty Bottle" was an obscure homage to a lyric on the first album by The Replacements that includes the phrase "half-full bottle".

"Yürf Rendenmein"

The title for this one came from a nickname that Davey and I had for a guy that we used to see at shows in the East Bay. He was a very strange looking guy. ANyway, he seemed to be at every show that Davey and I went to around that time and there was no escaping him. Even though we didn't know him and neither of us ever had a conversation with him, we began referring to him as "your friend and mine", which led us to dub him Yürf Rendenmein. Lyrically, the song is about something else altogether, which was standard practice for us then. Only in a few cases did the song title appear within the lyrics of the song. I don't know if the lyrics were directly influenced by any one person or if it was just a general thing.

"I Wanna Get a Mohawk (But Mom Won't Let Me Get One)"

This is one of the few examples where the song title is found within the lyrics to the song. The song is about Davey's younger brother, who was quite young when the song was written, as evidenced by the line "I may be in fourth grade, but I know what's going on". It was a semi-biographical song.

"Brownie Bottom Sundae"

The title for this one was Adam's idea. We were at a Denny's Restaurant late one night and on the table, there was one of those little cardboard signs advertising one of the restaurant's new desserts. This one was advertising their Brownie Bottom Sundae. Davey's lyrics for this song could be seen as the prototype for the kind of lyrics he would go on to write in later years, with various references to feelings of helplessness and despair. This was one of the first times that Davey's lyrics deviated from the earlier phase of AFI's songs, which were usually meant to be humorous or witty.

"The Checkered Demon"

This is possibly the only co-writing credit that Mark and I shared on an AFI record. The majority of the music was written by Mark, and I added a section or two to it when he was having a hard time finishing the music. Again, as with the lyrics to "Brownie Bottom Sundae", Davey's lyrical content foreshadows the lyrics he would later contribute to subsequent albums. The title was inspired by an underground comic character of the same name, by S. Clay Wilson. The progression or evolution of the title came from the tempo of the song (originally it was much faster than the album version) being so fast that someone should wave a checkered flag at the end of the song (referring to the checkered flag used in auto racing, which signifies the end of a race). So from "checkered flag" we arrived at the title "The Checkered Demon".

"Cereal Wars"

This title is self-explanatory, as it appears in the lyrics. "Cereal Wars" was, at that time, one of the oldest songs in the band's catalog.

"The Mother in Me"

Lyrically, this is an anti-love song. The inspiration behind the title escapes me at the moment, but it could have been as simple as hearing the phrase while writing the lyrics.

"Rizzo in the Box"

In this case, the title has absolutely no relation to the lyrics. This song was one of the first couple of songs I brought into the band when I joined, but only the music. Davey wrote his share of the lyrics around Adam's ideas and the lyrics that he had prepared for the song. We should have credited Davey's grandfather, who was an awesome person and one of our biggest supporters, for inspiring the title somehow. He had found a little tape recorder, like a toy version of a cassette recorder, and we decided to see if it worked by recording one of our rehearsals on it. Davey put batteries in it, along with a blank cassette, and started speaking into the built-in microphone. He decided to speak as a character named Rizzo, saying "My name is Rizzo. This is Rizzo in the box." That's the source of the introduction heard on the original Behind the Times EP version of the song.

"Kung-Fu Devil"

This started out with entirely different lyrics. We decided to change the lyrics when we were recording the album. The title was just something that we thought sounded cool, even though it had nothing to do with the lyrics.

"Your Name Here"

The title comes from the space on various types of documents or forms that you would fill out for whatever reason, where it has a blank space for your name. Usually they say "(YOUR NAME HERE)" underneath the line or the box. In this case, it's directly referencing the lyrical content, since the song is about a specific person, or fictitious person, or any person in general. Everyone has known someone at one point or another that they can apply the lyrics to, so by naming the song "Your Name Here", it can apply to anyone, while granting anonymity to the person that it's truly written about or dedicated to.

"Ny-Quil"

This one is fairly self-explanatory, as most people would know that the product NyQuil is a medicine that you take when you have a cold or the flu, to make you sleep while it helps your body fight off whatever your ailment may be. This song, like "Cereal Wars", is one of the earlier tracks that predates my joining the band.

"Don't Make Me Ill"

The story behind "Don't Make Me Ill" is kind of a long one. It actually goes hand-in-hand with the title of the Fly in the Ointment EP, although it wasn't intended to appear on that release. The short version of the story is that there was a label that wanted to sign the band to a recording contract, but they wanted us to radically change our sound to be more "radio friendly", among other things. The lyrics are directly related to that situation. The irony here is that "Don't Make Me Ill" actually ended up getting quite a bit of radio airplay after ATASF was released!

"Highschool Football Hero"

This song was written before we had fully adopted the unwritten rule of disguising the song titles, so it's another case of the song title being lifted directly from the lyrics. The overall theme was inspired by a Fleischer Popeye cartoon from the 1930s, called "You Gotta Be a Football Hero".

"Man In A Suitcase" (The Police Cover) - CD Hidden Track

Obviously we didn't write this song, but Adam really liked it and rallied for its inclusion on the album. We reluctantly agreed. In hindsight, it's fine, but at the time we recorded it, I don't recall any of us being particularly happy with the way it sounded. It really wasn't within our collective ability to do the original version justice.

"Self-Pity" - Vinyl Bonus Track

Another oldie-but-goodie from the earliest days of the band. We had continued playing this song from the time I joined up until the time I left the band, if I recall correctly. I'm not exactly sure, but I believe it was recorded on the band's first two demos, then again for the Dork EP, and yet again for the Behind The Times EP sessions, and finally for the ATASF album. A very self-explanatory title.

"Key Lime Pie" - Vinyl Bonus Track

Another artifact from the beginning stages of the band. This song hadn't really been performed for a few years, as it was scrapped when I joined the band, but I had always loved the song and wanted to include it on the album in some form. I don't remember how the original riff for the verse was played, but when I convinced the guys to start performing the song again, it was with a new riff in the verse that I contributed and that's the version that ended up being released. A love song dedicated to the gloriously delicious dessert of the same name.


Nitro Records Version

"Open Your Eyes" - Nitro Version Bonus Track

This was a cover of a song originally recorded by The Circus Tents, that appeared on their Hard Up EP. It was released on a label called Insurrection Records. Inside the original record, there was an insert that detailed the costs of making the record and where the recording, mastering, pressing, sleeve printing, etc. were done. When the record was first released, I saw how easy it was to do a record like that. It inspired me, musically and from the perspective that I could do this myself. I took the information from that insert, contacted some of the listings on it and used some of my own limited contacts and did the Dork record. I sent a copy of the finished product to the guy that released that Circus Tents EP, along with a thank you letter that was something to the effect of, "Thanks for releasing such a cool record and for including all of the great information. This is a copy of what I did with that information. I hope you like it." I never heard back from Paul, the guy that did the CT EP, but several years later he sold that record, along with the letter, on eBay, and made about $3000 on it! Hahaha! That's a lot more than that Dork record cost to record and manufacture!
Anyway, I fell in love with that CT record and played it for the other guys in the band. I wrote to the CT address inside the record and received a reply from the singer, Matt Wedgley. We started a correspondence that went on for a while, and I got a letter from him that said The Circus Tents broke up. I was bummed. I told the other guys in my band about it and they were bummed too. We soon started playing "Open Your Eyes" at rehearsals and then started playing it live. When we booked our first show at 924 Gilman Street, I sent Matt a letter to let him know we were playing, and that we'd be playing "Open Your Eyes". He came to the show. During a break in our set, someone called out "Open Your Eyes!" and I looked down to see where the voice was coming from, asking "Are you him?" Hahaha! We had never met in person, but it was Matt. We played the song and had Matt sing it with us. We didn't actually meet until after the show. He was really cool and he liked our band.
A while later, I got a letter from Matt saying that he wanted to do a 7" with us. I told the other guys about it and although it took a little convincing on my part, they agreed to do it. I thought it would be a fun thing to include our version of "Open Your Eyes" on the record, and to have Davey and Matt trading vocal lines on it. It was a nightmare getting Matt to the studio. He had missed his train (which turned out to be a trend as time went on and Matt worked for us as our roadie/merch guy), and Mark drove out to pick him up while we were in the middle of cutting some of the tracks during the recording session. When Matt got to the studio, he was still reluctant to lay down his vocal track, because he hadn't really sung in quite a while. We convinced him that it would be cool, and he did it in one take with no overdubs! We mixed the record, which became Fly in the Ointment, and had the vocals on that song trading off, but it was a little weird the way it ended up. Instead of trading every other line, they were doing alternating lines in a little different way. It was cool though.
When we were getting ready to do the reissue of ATASF on Nitro Records, I told the label that I wanted to remix the album. They agreed and I took the session master tapes back to The Art of Ears studios and remixed the entire album with Andy Ernst. I can't remember at which point we decided to include our version of "Open Your Eyes" on the reissue, but I remember remixing it the way I had originally heard it in my head, with the vocals trading off the way they do on that reissue. I guess we just wanted to give fans a little something extra on the reissue besides a different mix. The differences between the Wingnut version and the Nitro version are not extreme in any sense, but there are subtle differences in the two records, including some extra harmonies and backing vocals that I added during the remix sessions. I guess it takes a certain degree of scrutiny on the part of the listener to pick out the differences.

Dan & Hunter Recording New Album For This Fall

Hunter is currently working on his collaborative side project with Dan Kelly. They posted a tweet yesterday saying, "We are working in a new album for the fall with over 30 songs! The theme is a secret for now, but it's not holiday related this time."

The duo previously released a 5-song holiday EP. Thanks to jaqkvade for the tip!

Summer Sale On AFI's Online Store

AFI's online store is having a sale! If you spend $25, you'll get 25% off all merchandise. This doesn't include tax or shipping. Happy shopping!

Guitar Edge Posts Interview With Jade

Guitar Edge has posted an interview with Jade. In the article, they discuss Lollapalooza, the upcoming Green Day tour, and his advice to aspiring guitarists. View the article here. Thanks to ... for the tip!

Help Us Help One of Our Own

Hey Guys,

For those of you who didn't know, Mike's cousin was killed in a car crash a few months ago and him as well as his family are having trouble finding funds for memorial services. Currently, Mike needs $1,000 to create a memorial plaque commemorating his cousin. Mike is currently trying to sell many of his AFI related possessions that he owns. One in particular is his custom Crash Love guitar that is signed by the band. Mike won the guitar when he won the Etch Love contest, held by the band a few months ago and it is something that he loves dearly. We, at AFI News HQ, don't want Mike to sell something that he values so much and we want to help him out. Therefore, we are accepting donations to help him pay for memorial costs. Any donation would be appreciated! We are also bidding off a few of our own personal items to help raise money. A new item will be posted every few days on the left sidebar. If you want the item, simply email us with how much you are willing to pay. The top buyer at the end of 5 days will receive the item. First up is a never used Art of Drowning CD. If interested, email us with the price you are willing to pay. 100% of the proceeds will go towards Mike and his family. Our hearts and prayers go out to Mike and his family. Thanks!

- The AFI News HQ Team




For information regarding the death of Mike's cousin, please click here.

More Live Footage of Playgrounds Duisburg 2010 Emerge

Bonzo Goes To Bitburg

Love Like Winter

Love Is A Many Splendor Thing



You need ShockWave to view

Blaqk Audio: Bright Black Heaven 30 song titles revealed! (Repost)

This is a repost from July 1st where we announced, before anybody else, the 30 titles that have been licensed so far. The post was made by Pablo and after receiving e-mails, Mary deleted it, but by orders from Jason, it has been posted again. Unlike other websites that misinformed AFI/Blaqk Audio's fanbase, these song titles were NOT leaked, as they are viewable for everyone on both Jade Puget and Davey Havok's licensed songs by BMI. We are only redirecting you to a public source of information. C&D e-mails should be sent to darkflame337@gmail.com.

Jason's note: I'm not trying to spite Interscope/Management by having this re-posted. It just didn't make sense to retract our post given that the information was already out there and had been re-posted to other websites and everybody has now seen these titles.

It's not confirmed how many songs will be released. These are their legal titles and they're not final, as they're the legal titles only ("Affliction" was shortened from "Affliction and Then I'll Be Home")

01.- Afterdark
02.- Big Summer
03.- Bite Your Tongue
04.- Bliss
05.- Blue Movie Stars
06.- Bon Voyeurs
07.- Cages Carry
08.- CC In Shards
09.- Cold War
10.- Deconstructing Gods
11.- Down Here
12.- Everyone’s Friends
13.- Fade To White
14.- Faith Healer
15.- Ill Lit Ships
16.- Let’s Be Honest
17.- London Girls in Los Angeles
18.- Maestro Now
19.- Mouth to Mouth
20.- Professionals
21.- Rough Trade
22.- Say Red
23.- Switch
24.- Terminal
25.- This Is
26.- Ultradeepfield
27.- War Noir
28.- With Your Arms Around You
29.- Witness
30.- Young Bluebloods

'Answer That' CD Up For Charity Auction

For those of you who don't have the Answer That and Stay Fashionable CD, there is currently an eBay auction for one. 100% of the proceeds from the sale go to the Goodwill Industries of San Fransisco, so start bidding!

Win Tickets to Green Day+AFI Shows

GreenDayAuthority.com announced a new Facebook contest by Adeline Records to win three pairs of tickets to any North American Green Day/AFI shows between August 3 - September 4. It's a worldwide contest, but the tickets are only for North American dates.

To enter the contest:
1) Go to Facebook and "Like" Adeline Apparel.
2) Sign up for the Adeline Apparel Newsletter here.
3) Post a photo on the contest "Wall" of you doing something environmentally friendly.

You can get an extra entry if you take a screenshot of you inviting your friends to the Facebook event page and email it to apparel@adelinerecords.net.
For more information see the Adeline Apparel Facebook page.

AFI News HQ Article in School Paper

Hey Guys,

I was interviewed back in March about AFI News HQ for a feature in my school paper. Today, it was put up online. If you are interested in reading it, feel free to click on the picture below.

Jade Updates Blog, Posts Video of Smith

Jade has updated his blog and in the process posted a new video of Smith putting forks in his beard. He also challenged people on Facebook to get "Blaqk Audio to have 20 million fans." If that were to occur, he would post a picture of himself and Davey jumping over a Volkswagen Bug. I think 20,000 fans is more realistic, Jade.

Verge Festival Posts Official Photographs

Verge Music Festival has posted official pictures of AFI performing on June 5th. Click here to see them.

New ZuBoutique Splash Page Featuring New Shirt

Go here to check out ZuBoutique's latest design. Do you like it?

Win Tickets To Green Day Toronto Show From Monsters vs Me Photography

If you live in Toronto, we found an event you should go to if you're wanting free Green Day tickets to the Toronto, CA show on August 18th. Monsters Vs. Me Photography are hosting an event on July 21st at Club Absinthe. If you attend the event, you will automatically be entered to win a pair of tickets.

If you want a better chance of winning, you must change your profile picture on Facebook to this and let Jay Perry, also on Facebook, know and you will get an extra 5 ballots! We should also point out that this event is 21+. For more information, go here.

New Zu Shirts Soon, Countdown Timer Up

Zu Boutique sent out an email blast this morning detailing the latest activities of the clothing line. The email included teasers of future shirts and an update on the new Macbeth shoes.

"...we plan to churn out an unprecedented number of shirts in a small amount of time. The future will entail many new designs, a few rehashes of old designs, and even a re-release of one of our favorite, far-too-important-to-let-pass-into-antiquity design. New jewels are in the design phase as well. "

Win A Trip To Lollapalooza From Sweet Leaf Tea

Sweet Leaf tea is hosting a contest for a chance to win a trip for 2 to Lollapalooza, where AFI are performing. To win, you must:

1. Tweet a photo using Twitpic, yfrog or img.ly
2. Use the #sweetleafsweetspot hashtag
3. Add a hashtag for your state (ex: #TX)
4. Watch for Sweet Leaf's @reply
5. Then have your friends vote for you on Facebook and Twitter!

For more details, go here.

Trivia Tuesday: Miss Murder Music Video

Here is another installment of Trivia Tuesday!


1. Mark Webb directed the video
2. The video was shot at City Hall in Los Angeles
3. The video was shot in 2, 14 hour days
4. In the directors cut of the video, Prelude 12/21 begins the video
5. MTV shot "Making the Video" for the song as well as "Love Like Winter"
6. The centerpiece on the floor in city hall was covered with a plastic mat showing the Decemberunderground trees.
7. Multiple takes had to occur for the bunnies to stay in Davey's hands rather than scurrying away

AFI Rock Band Track Pack Discounted For Limited Time

AFI's downloadable track pack for the video game Rock Band has been discounted up to 50% until July 12th. The track pack includes Beautiful Thieves, End Transmission, Love Like Winter, Medicate, and The Leaving Song, Pt. 2. Learn more by clicking here.

Get "Sky & I" Featuring Davey Free From Purevolume

Considering that Davey contributed to Scarlet Grey's song "The Sky and I," which we exclusively premiered in May, we wanted to let you know that you can now download the song for free from Purevolume.

Hot Topic Online Clearance Features AFI Shirts

Under the clearance section on Hot Topic's website, 2 t-shirts are for sale. Both originally cost $20 or more, and are now on sale for just $4.99. These shirts are:

Spray Stencil Shirt
Crash Love Tee

Journeys Footwear Posts Interview with Hunter

At Rocketown in Nashville, TN, Journeys (footwear also incorporated with Macbeth) conducted an interview with Hunter, talking about Hunter joining AFI, memorable moments (breakinlimbs, crackin heads, scrappin skin, burnin flesh), starstruck moments, current playlist, inspiration, random advice, and stories involving Macbeth/Journeys and The Hunter. You can watch it below.

A Message From Jason Regarding Yesterday's Hack

AFI News HQ was hacked within the last couple of days. Unfortunately, this occurred while I was on vacation, and I will still be on vacation for the next 2 weeks. I found out about it yesterday afternoon and I have been in constant contact with the other writers and admins. We do not know who the hacker was, but here is the bottom line.

• Mary's administrator account was hacked; all posts were deleted
• We have taken back control and all passwords have been changed
• I have kept backups of the blog on other blogging sites, which we will use to restore as many posts as possible, although it will be a long process. We literally have to repost over 1,000 posts. The blog may be very chaotic for a few days with all of the ancient news, but it will all be sorted out eventually and everything will be back to normal
• Pablo's status is undetermined at the moment, so please do not ask about that
• We will continue to post new news as we rebuild the old posts. We actually just made some breaking news about Blaqk Audio song titles!
• AFI News HQ will recover from this attack and continue to serve the AFI fan community